Change of Use Information
Uses are defined in the City Code. This definition will govern the specifics of your proposed new use, including hours of operations and where you can
and cannot conduct the business. The State Building Code also has “occupancy classifications” which govern what activities may be performed in what
kinds of structures. Both the City Code use definition and the State Building code occupancy classification must be considered when evaluating a
proposed change of use at a property. Below we’ve included the most commonly used City Code use definitions along with their State Building code
occupancy classifications for your convenience. For a full listing of all the defined uses in the City Code see Section 285-5. For a full listing of the State
Building Code occupancy classifications see Chapter 3 of the NYS Building Code.
When a change of use is permitted, the permission will be tied to one of the definitions below. If your operation expands or changes so that it no longer
meets that definition, you may be subject to a “stop work” or “cease and desist” order.
Approval of this application does not authorize that any work that must comply with State or City laws be performed at the
property. For that you must apply for and obtain a building or other permit.
A building permit is needed to erect or post signs.
After this application is approved, it is the responsibility of the applicant to call for an inspection when the new use is ready. When this final
inspection is passed, a certificate of occupancy or completion will be issued confirming that the new use has been approved.
Bar or Tavern: An establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold to
be consumed on the premises, & where the any sale of food is secondary to
the sale of alcoholic beverages. This definition includes but is not limited to
a bar, grill, saloon, pub, public house, beer garden, brewpub, or similar
establishment. Does not include a banquet facility. Occupancy Class: A-2.
Restaurant: [A]ny establishment that prepares and serves meals for
consumption on premises or to take away, and where any sale of alcohol
permitted by the State of New York is secondary to the sale of food. This
use includes a Banquet Facility. Occupancy Class: A-2.
Personal or Business Service: Any business that primarily performs a
support service for an individual or business, including but not limited to a
shoe repair shop, dry-cleaning establishment, laundromat, barber shop,
beauty parlor, photocopying (either self-service or full-service), design,
printing and binding of documents, presentations, desktop publishing,
packaging, and/or mailing, makerspace, collaborative work space, and sign
shop. This use does not include a . . . Methadone Dispensary. Accessory
sales of goods may occupy no more than 25 percent of the gross floor area
of the establishment. Occupancy Class: B (typically)
Convenience Retail: A retail store selling a limited selection of
groceries, beverages, snacks, lottery tickets, newspapers, magazines,
tobacco products, household products and personal items to be consumed
primarily off the premises. This use designed to attract customers who
purchase a relatively few items and depends upon a large volume of stop-
and-go traffic. Occupancy Class: M
General Retail: Establishments engaged in selling goods or merchandise
to the general public for personal or household consumption & rendering
services incidental to the sale of such goods, including auction houses, that
do not meet the definition of any other retail use, a restaurant use, or any
other use listed in Table 375-3-1. Occupancy Class: M
Specialty Retail: A retailer concentrating on selling a limited or select
merchandise line of goods and having a narrow but extensive selection in
their specialty. Examples are bicycle shops, music stores, florists, bagel
shops, photo supply stores and antique shops. Occupancy Class: M
Single Family Detached: A detached building, designated for or
occupied exclusively by one household and containing not more than one
primary dwelling unit. Occupancy Class: R-3
Two Family Detached: A detached or semidetached building with not
more than two dwelling units that are entirely separated by vertical walls
or horizontal floors, unpierced except for access to the outside or to a
common hallway or cellar. Side-by-side or duplex dwellings are considered
a "two-family dwelling" regardless of individual ownership of either half of
its structure, provided that they are on the same zoned lot of record.
Occupancy Class: R
Townhouse: A dwelling structure containing three or fewer dwelling
units, constructed side-by-side with another dwelling structure, and either
(1) connected by vertical walls that extend from grade level or below to the
top of the structure, or (2) separated from a similar structure on an
adjacent lot by no more than four feet between the two dwelling structure’s
sidewalls, each of which has entrances to its dwelling unit(s) from outside
on the ground or first floor, whether located on a single lot or on individual
lots. Occupancy Class: Depends
Multi-Family: A building containing three or more dwelling units located
side-to-side, or above-and-below, and accessed by common hallways or
walkways, that does not meet the definition of a Dwelling, Townhouse.
Occupancy Class: R or I
Community Residential Facility: Any building, structure, home,
facility or place operated by person(s) other than the residents themselves,
in which persons reside for a period of more than 24 hours, and that is
used or intended to be used for the purpose of letting rooms, providing
meals and/or providing personal assistance, personal services, personal
care and protective care to persons meeting the definition of a handicapped
person or another person protected against housing discrimination under
the federal Fair Housing Act and court decisions interpreting that Act. For
purposes of this definition, the term handicapped does not include persons
currently using or addicted to alcohol or controlled substances who are not
in a recognized recovery program, nor shall it include half-way houses for
individuals in the criminal justice system, or residential facilities to divert
persons from the criminal justice system. Occupancy Class: R or I
Group Living, Other: A place of residence in which a group of persons
who do not meet the definition of a family live together in rooms or areas
that do not constitute individual dwelling units, and that does not meet the
definition of a hotel, rooming house, dormitory, or community residential
facility. This use includes but is not limited to fraternity and sorority
houses, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, and halfway houses.
Occupancy Class: R or I
Rooming Houses: A building containing a single dwelling unit and
rooms for the rooming and/or boarding of at least three persons by
prearrangement for definite periods of not less than one week. This use
also includes a building containing multiple single room dwelling units,
with each unit for occupancy by no more than two individuals and with a
maximum square footage of 450 square feet. Occupancy Class: R or I.
Community Center: A not-for-profit or publicly owned facility providing
recreational programs and meeting rooms that are open to the public and
designed to accommodate and serve significant segments of the
community. Occupancy Class: A-3 (typically)
Cultural Facility: An establishment used for the purposes of preserving,
exhibiting, demonstrating or interpreting art, history, culture or nature or
scientific objects or ideas. Cultural facilities shall be interpreted to include,
but not be limited to, museums, libraries, zoos, art galleries, aquariums,
planetarium, botanical gardens and nature centers. Occupancy Class: A-3
(typically)
Club: A facility operated by a corporation, association or group of people
for the social, educational or recreational intent of the dues-paying
members and their guests, but not primarily for profit nor to render a
service that customarily is carried on as a business. This definition includes
lodges as defined herein. Occupancy Class: A-3 (often)
